Liquid-level indicator



5 Q SHANNON ET AL LIQUID LEVEL INDICATOR Filed July 5, 1922 Aug. 14, 1928.

E E a Patented Aug. 14, 1928.

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s e snmmo'n 'nr'bnmn rnenrBunnie, or nossmremmzs 'cmircimtm" memmiiitian nmmon;

App li ea ti en niedlzrhly 5;

()iirl invention relates to. "ii ea sii'rin'githe' contents er height [of the iliqiiid a c on tainerw, M i y An impcrta nt object of cur invention -is ta provide a' measuring devic eQthe indicating parts of, can be re adil'ywplac'ed in any position higher fldr lowe'f than the hen tainerito be measiiredfaLnd cperiit'd from the pesiticncffthe indicating parts. f e Meaisuring deric i hithertc" emplqyed mea i-in'g itanks] or l iqiiid-f "c'o itiiners have to he Operated infithe vicinity pffthe tanks themselves er here :proven qnite' unsatisf act eryand inaccurate for the purpcse. At present" practicaliyieli gesolin'e service station s; refinery tanks; em, tare 4 'still, dependent on the stick rnethod measurement. V A Our inven ticn in accurate ma uring deyice which 1 can i installed *in'. any desired operat ing placate: connected with ahy nun be r of tanks to be inezisiired and oper-l s ply ndfl' e y l i r i Another eh 'e l ef our invention is tc' 'prOg vide'fa r neas ur ing; device ivhi'chis adwst able 'lind can; be used tdme asiire, liquids of differentspeeific tgrarities p Another object of our'nvei tien is to pro vide a Inefieuring t de/ ice which (i al'lfbe need in connection with a hurnber cf fdifieren't tanke td be rneasnred and which cen be ea sily adjusted to compensate --for any differences in construction or connection Withthe indicating device; I v Another object ef o rinventibn to provide a measuring zdevieeyyhich Iis particuy'xs mpl and cpn l in n u t Another objectpf onrinyentihnie toprog vide a measuring device which is particu; larly' positive in action end independentcf any springs,floate,- stretched wiree etc, f

The accompanying drawings iil strate diagrammatically an -apparetue in which: our inventionhas been -su cces s fnlly embediecil:-

. Figure 1 is an elevation, partially in seetion, of the apparatus referred t9. 1

line indicated by w -egv in Figf l v p t Fig. 3 is; a heriziontelisectionv taken on the line indicated by "fl w? of Fig, 11. k H

i s an-: 1@ 0n,imi al1 in ion, of a safety device partially Showninfig. V Fig.5;is e horizontzilflseetion on the line Rig, 6 isa sectionien the line 01 Fig;,1,f-

192:2." 'seri'ai in! 572,778.

Igig. is a secticli "6n the 1in'e.5"5 of Fig'fi 1 igith the-adjusters in a different' position; an r,

Eigi s is. zi sectio nj on the iine" 0f Fig.1 With the edjuster parts in the game position-as ShOWn in I t Atuhe or pipe 1 islimmred' ina liqnid container 2 in which the quzintity'folr ,height of the liquid is to be Inea'siu'edi'. The t ibe: is open'at the hettem s indicatedfzit 3.1-; This opening may consist of enyni fiiherbf Opens ings placed arund the tube fas desired. The tuble l c is. connected by it. Iinebr'pipeQ 4 throilgh e. valve 5 to a: 'gage' 'fi." A niimber'of such Valves 5 are Shown for connectio nfwithi same gage" ;(0n1y .fion'e suc'h Le ming:

shown in the drziviring-fi The "gage "6 c'bniprises a chamber 7 which fis pi'eferehLyrect mgnlar or square in jcrosst section-lend aii tight.- Thereis previdedf'faf transparent gauge tube .9 a'ndl epipe 'c'onnec tion 8 her-i tween the lbwer ends Of the chamber and tube, g The up er end pf the gpget jtnbe is prci id ed with aeafetydevice lt). I Thesa'fety device 10 is vented. atl the tep .27flAn? aid-i j uste'rfe'r compensating inenibe'r 11 Ii s p I'e-v vided in the rect inguler chainh erfi Jana com prises} two 'ccrnp'lementarypart l2 and 13.

The two partsrl'Qzind "13 are s6 constructed that they "can'be; fitted t ogetl er t0 forni one rectengular block iindjnig ht'be fornied by separating such aiong aipiane per" pendieular t0 onesidefendfdiegbnally dcros it The r-part 12 is-ffast ene'dlsit iteftop 1 5 to a chain 16 which passee cigeiie p iHeyfU and is fastened to: thefpart 13 at -point lA; The pulley 17' is 1n01inted.."0n the ha ft 18 which is cennect ed outeide o f the c hitmher to a p einter l t) operziting on enhindicating H5120. IThe Shift ,18 tis prcyided nwithfan edjliistln knob f rTh vsgage 6 is filled: ,ivi'th a liquid. toflthe centerof "the ad; jns'ter l l ndzin; indicati g $31622: is 5mg ride r ilong the gage. tube '9 with its' zer d pointjat the center df "the adjuste adep tihn. of our invention iiie preferably i se a" nonvcl iiti'le Oil w v hich i iewfin -viscosity'; as "tee riscoiis" an oil firillzciin ggte the Iadju st er r11 and not give ,a rapid readiiigrdu ing the operzi-tien. mineriii bil Such to a source of compressed air. Any source of air (not shown) such as a compressed air tank, or pump, may be used. Between the air supply and the line 4 are two valves 24 and 25. The; valve 24 issct to .admit only sufiicient air pressure to expel any liquid from the tube 1 into that in" the container 2. The valve 24 may be regulated and the supply of air required admitted through" height ofthe liquid in the container 2 above the opening 3'in the tube 1. This pressure is transmitted to the gage 6 and the oil forced downward in the chamber 7 and upward in the gage tube 9. The scale 22 may be calibrated to read correctly either the volume or the height of the [liquid in the container 2. The oil' in the gage 6' will rise t'o a height in the gagetube 9 proportionalto the pressure exerted by the height of the liq-I uid in the container 2 abovethe opening 3 in thetube 1; v I

lnuse, the liquid height in any one of the various containers connected with the respective valves 5 may be determined by 0 ening the valve,5 theretoand closing all t e remaining valves 5. In case, however, the containers arefilled with liquids of dif-. ferent specific gravity the gage 6 must be compensated for 'any suchjdifi'erences. This compensation'isefiected by the adjuster 11. By rotating the adjusting knob21 connected to the pulley'17 'through the shaft 18,'the position of the parts 12 and 13 of. the adjuster 11 are relatively shifted. These parts 12 and 13 are connected by one chain 16 to each other so that the pulley. 17 may lower one part and raise the other equally. The operation of the adjuster 1]. then .changesithe volume of the oil in the column 7 between the two parts 12 and 13 by bringing together or separating these two parts. By. thus varying the volume of the liquid between the two parts 12 and 13 the gage may be adjusted to compensate or correct 'for the specific gravity. of the liquid iuthe container to be measured, and for any structural variations in connect-ions. In use the correct position of theadjuster 11 for any gravity oil may be determined by actual testing and the dial 20 then calibrated to correspond to aBaum gravity scale. Before operating the, measurlng device, the dial 20 may then be Ifirst set to the proper position as'indicated by the" gravity of the liquid to be measured. As shown most clearly in Figs. Ste 8 inclusive, only'part of the space of chamber 7 is available for occupation by liquid, the remainder of suchispacebeing filled: by adjuster parts 12 and 13. With the parts 12 and 13 in any one position,this space (available for occupation by the liquid) is uniform throughout the portion of'the chamber 7 in which the adjuster parts 12 and 13 overlap, as indicated by the equal free area of Figures 5 and 6, showing the adjuster parts in one adjusted position, and also the equal available areas shown in Figures 7 and'S, showing the adjusters 12 and 13 in another posi-J sition. Thus, as termed in the appended claim, the effective cross sectional area of the chamber 7 is uniform throughout the length of liquid 'travel, but such effective cross sectional area may be uniformlyvaricd by shifting the adjuster parts 12 and 13.

When using the device in connection with a number of tanks ofdifl'erent design or widely separatedfrom each other, a number of scales may be required on the dial'20 or scale 22 to correspond with the different tanks. In such case the best method of cali-' brating'and adjusting'thedevice is easily determined bytrialat the time the device is installed. It should be noted that the zero point of the oil in'the gage 6 will not be changed by the operation of the adjuster 11 since the increased immersion of one of the adjuster' parts is exactly balanced by the decreased immersion ofthe other adjuster part. This is only true when. the gage 6 is filled tothe center of the adjuster 11' as specified. If, by any chance or accident, the pressure in .the line .4 on the gage 6 becomes great enough to force the oilin the column 9. over-the top, it is trapped in the safety device 10 and'will return to the gage when the air. pressure is exhausted.

The particular embodiment of our invention referred to in the drawing in the foregoing description is highly suited.to the successful practice of our invention. It is especially to be noted that the described indicating gage 6 might be replaced by any of the well known devices actuated by air pressure. 'Our invention is not limited to the specific embodiment as described herein but is of the fscope set forth in the following claim:

We claim: In a gage, two liquid containing chambers interconnected at their lower'ends, one cou- "stituting an indicating chamber, an inlet through which gas may be admitted, for forcing the liquid down the other chamber seas to cause the liquid to rise in the indicating chamber, two relatively movable overlapping members disposed in said non-indieating chamber, said members being reversely tapered so as to leave between them throughout their combined length and in members, and means for so relatively moving each position a channel of uniform crossthe members.

sectional area for occupation by liquid in Signed at Los Angeles, California this 10 said column and being revei'sely movable 13th day of June, 1922.

into difierent positions, in each of which said cross-sectional area for occupation by liquid S Q SHANNON. is different from each other position of the l HERMAN PAGE RANDALL. 

